Compact Disc single

A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s. With the rise in digital downloads in the 2000s, sales of CD singles have decreased.

Commercially released CD singles can vary in length from two songs (an A side and B side, in the tradition of 7" 45rpm records) up to six songs like an EP. Some contain multiple mixes of one or more songs, in the tradition of 12" vinyl singles. Depending on the nation, there may be limits on the number of songs and total length for sales to count in singles charts.

History

Dire Straits' "Brothers in Arms" (1985) is reported to be the world's first CD single, issued in the UK in two separate singles as a promotional item, one distinguished with a logo for the tour, Live in '85, and a second to commemorate the Australian leg of the tour marked Live in '86. Containing just four tracks, it had a very limited print run. CD singles were first made eligible for the UK Singles Chart in 1987.

The 8 cm (3 in) CD single format was originally created for use for singles in the late 1980s, but met with limited success, particularly in the U.S. The smaller CDs were more successful in Japan^[1], and have recently become more common in Europe, marketed as "Pock it" CDs. By 1989 the CD3 was in decline in the US (replaced by the 5-inch CD single, called CD-5).^[1]

It was common in the 1990s for U.S. record companies to release both a two-track CD and a multi-track (usually "remix") maxi CD. In the UK, record companies would also release two CDs, but usually these consisted of three tracks or more each.

During the 1990s, CD single releases became less common, and often released in smaller editions, as the major record labels feared they were cannibalizing the sales of higher-profit-margin CD albums. Due to pressure from record labels, singles charts in some countries became song charts, allowing album cuts to chart based only on airplay, without a single ever being released. In the USA, the Billboard Hot 100 made this change in December 1998, after which very few songs were released in the CD single format in the US, while they remained relatively popular in the UK and other countries, where charts are still based solely on single sales and not radio airplay. With the advent of digital music sales, the CD single has largely been replaced as a distribution format in most countries, and most charts now include digital download counts as well as physical single sales.

In the UK, Woolworths Group, who previously accounted for one third of all CD sales in the country, stopped selling CD singles in August 2008, citing the "terminal decline" of the format as customers moved to digital downloads as their preferred method of purchasing single tracks.^[2]

In Australia, the Herald Sun has reported the CD single is "set to become extinct". In July 2009, music store JB Hi-Fi ceased stocking CD singles because of declining sales, with copies of the week's No. 1 single often only selling as few as 350 copies across all their stores nationwide.^[3] The ARIA Singles Charts are now "predominantly compiled from legal downloads". "On a Mission" by Gabriella Cilmi will be the last CD single to be stocked in Kmart, Target and Big W, therefore no longer stocking new singles. Sanity Entertainment, having resisted the decline for longer than the other major outlets, has also ceased selling CD Singles.

In China, singles are seldom released physically, and most are digital downloads or radio-only singles. This is due to the amount of pirating and illegal file sharing over the internet.^{[citation needed]}

In Greece and Cyprus, the term "CD single" is used to describe an extended play (EP) in which there may be anywhere from three to six different tracks. These releases charted on the Greek Singles Chart (before it ceased tracking altogether) alongside songs released as singles.

See also

• Single
• Radio single
• A-side and B-side
• EP
• Maxi single
• Digital download

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "CD News" by Pete Howard for Rolling Stone magazine, 14-28 December 1989, page 216
2. ^ Wallop, Harry (2008-05-26). "CD singles off the shelves at Woolworths". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2033246/CD-singles-off-the-shelves-at-Woolworths.html. Retrieved 2009-08-20. 
3. ^ Adams, Cameron (2009-07-02). "JB HiFi stops selling CD singles because of declining sales". Herald Sun (News.com.au). http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,28383,25721244-7484,00.html. Retrieved 2009-07-15.